These are the best Crispy Skirt Dumplings. They’re crunchy on the outside and full of flavour on the inside. The filling is a combination of chicken mince, chives, hoisin sauce, and garlic. Honestly, they are the juiciest dumplings I’ve ever made, I could eat these for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every day.
Inspired by Chinese methods and flavours, these easy crispy skirt dumplings are such a great dish to make when you're looking for something comforting but delicious. The crispy skirt is essentially a cornflour slurry. The water evaporates, leaving a really thin layer of crispy cornflour (kind of like a really skinny pancake). The dumplings stick to the crispy skirt, making a really pretty pattern and satisfying meal experience.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Juicy - The filling is made up of chicken mince, hoisin sauce, chives, and garlic. It creates the juiciest, most addictive filling, I think you're gonna love it! Another juicy dumpling I love are my pan-fried lemongrass beef dumplings, they're so good.
Freezable - These hoisin, chicken, and chive dumplings can be made in advance and then frozen. When you're craving dumplings, you can then cook them straight from frozen! Just add on 3-4 more minutes to account for defrosting.
Simple ingredients - The dough only requires two ingredients, and the filling only 4!
If you're a fan of chicken dumplings, you'll love my Nepalese Momo dumplings and my Chicken and prawn dumplings!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Flour: All purpose flour is perfect for this recipe.
Chicken mince: I used 5% fat chicken mince for these crispy skirt dumplings. It gives a really juicy result and I love it. If you don't have chicken mince, I'd recommend buying chicken thighs and either placing them in a blender, or chopping them up with a knife on a chopping board. If you don't like chicken, lamb or pork would work really well for this recipe. If you're looking for a vegan alternative, any meat-substitute would work, or you can use tofu.
Hoisin sauce: Hoisin sauce is a thick, dark-colour, sweet and salty sauce. It's commonly used in Cantonese cuisine, and it's a great source of flavour for dumplings. If you don't have hoisin sauce, teriyaki sauce or oyster sauce are good alternatives.
Chives: Fresh chives not only add a bit of greenery to the dumpling filling, but they also add a mild oniony garlic flavour too. If you don't have chives, finely chopped spring onions is a good alternatives.
Garlic: For an extra flavour boost, fresh garlic cloves are best. You can use jarred garlic or garlic powder too if necessary.
As always, I use chili oil to garnish certain types of dumplings. But if you don't have chili oil, here are 13 of my favourite chili oil substitutes for you.
See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients.
Step By Step Instructions with Photos
Step 1: Begin by combining your plain flour with water and using a chopstick to bring the dough together. Mix in a clockwise motion until a shaggy dough forms. Then, knead in the bowl for about 30 seconds until a rough dough forms. Cover the dough in clingfilm and set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, chives, garlic, hoisin sauce, and black pepper until smooth and paste-like.
Step 3: Get your dough and knead for another 30 seconds. Poke a hole through the centre of the dough and then stretch it to make a doughnut. Slice the doughnut and form it into a log. Cut the log into 15-20 pieces. On a floured surface, roll out each piece into a circular wrapper.
Step 4: Place a spoonful of the filling into the centre of each wrapper.
Step 5: To seal the dumpling, fold the wrapper in half over the filling and pinch the wrapper at the top of the half circle with your fingers and seal in the centre. Fold one pleat inwards towards the centre of the dumpling, starting near the centre of the dumpling (using your thumb and index finger) repeating 4 times on each side, and seal. Repeat this step for all the dumplings.
Step 6: Next up, pour 80ml water into a large cup with a spout and add in the cornflour and whisk together. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-heat high. It is crucial that you use a nonstick pan to ensure that the dumpling skirt releases from the pan easily. Add 2 tablespoon vegetable oil to the pan and swirl it around. Line up the dumpling in the pan, starting in the centre and spiralling outwards. Fry the dumplings for 2 minutes.Stir the dumpling skirt slurry again and then pour the slurry over the pan (be careful as the oil may splatter a bit). Make sure to pour the slurry evenly, ensuring that all the spaces between the dumplings are covered.Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and cook for 5 minutes.
Step 7: Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoon light soy sauce, 2 tablespoon water, 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon chilli oil for the dipping sauce.
Step 8: Remove the lid of the dumpling pan and cook for another 2 minutes or until the entire dumpling skirt looks crispy and golden. Then turn off the heat. Flip a large plate over and place it on top of the dumplings. Place one hand on the plate (make sure to not burn yourself!), and the other hand on the handle of the pan and flip it over so that the dumpling skirt is seen as you look at the plate. Serve immediately with your dipping sauce and enjoy!
Top Tips!
- If you don't have time to make the dough from scratch, feel free to use store-bought circular dumpling wrappers!
- You can double or triple this crispy skirt dumplings recipe and then freeze the dumplings before cooking them. Any ones you want to freeze, assemble them on a tray, place them in the freezer for an hour, then remove them and place them in an airtight bag, and back into the freezer for up to 3 months.
- If you don't have a lid for your frying pan, place a large chopping board on top of it to keep the steam in the pan.
What To Do With Leftovers
Storage: Store the dumplings in an airtight container and store any leftover sauce in a small airtight container. For up to three days.
Freezing: You can freeze the dumplings before you cook them and/or after you cook them for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Cook the dumplings from frozen. Place them in a frying pan with your cornstarch slurry, place the lid on and steam for 8 minutes (pre-cooked) and 10 minutes (not-cooked).
Reheating: Place the container into the microwave and heat until piping hot.
FAQs
You can but I'd recommend using cornflour for extra crispiness.
Yes, absolutely! You may have to fry the dumplings in two separate frying pans or in two batches.
I've written a blog post all about what to serve dumplings with, so go check out it!
More Dumpling Recipes
Some of my favourite dumpling recipes are my Pan-Fried Beef & Spinach Dumplings and Pork and Corn Dumplings! You guys absolutely love my Cheat Bao recipe and my Pan-Fried Turkey Dumplings, so go check them out if you're a dumpling lover like me!
You Might Like These Recipes Too!
If you tried this Crispy Skirt Dumpling recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
The BEST Crispy Skirt Dumplings
Ingredients
For The Dough
- 200g plain flour
- 100ml water
For The Filling
- 200g chicken mince
- 20g chives finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
For The Cornstarch Slurry
- 80ml water
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
For The Sauce
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon chilli oil
Instructions
- Begin by combining your plain flour with water and using a chopstick to bring the dough together. Mix in a clockwise motion until a shaggy dough forms. Then, knead in the bowl for about 30 seconds until a rough dough forms. Cover the dough in clingfilm and set aside
- In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, chives, garlic, hoisin sauce, and black pepper until smooth and paste-like.
- Get your dough and knead for another 30 seconds. Poke a hole through the centre of the dough and then stretch it to make a doughnut. Slice the doughnut and form it into a log. Cut the log into 15-20 pieces. On a floured surface, roll out each piece into a circular wrapper.
- Place a spoonful of the filling into the centre of each wrapper.
- To seal the dumpling, fold the wrapper in half over the filling and pinch the wrapper at the top of the half circle with your fingers and seal in the centre. Fold one pleat inwards towards the centre of the dumpling, starting near the centre of the dumpling (using your thumb and index finger) repeating 4 times on each side, and seal. Repeat this step for all the dumplings.
- Next up, pour 80ml water into a large cup with a spout and add in the cornflour and whisk together. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-heat high. It is crucial that you use a nonstick pan to ensure that the dumpling skirt releases from the pan easily. Add 2 tablespoon vegetable oil to the pan and swirl it around. Line up the dumpling in the pan, starting in the centre and spiralling outwards. Fry the dumplings for 2 minutes.Stir the dumpling skirt slurry again and then pour the slurry over the pan (be careful as the oil may splatter a bit). Make sure to pour the slurry evenly, ensuring that all the spaces between the dumplings are covered.Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid of the dumpling pan and cook for another 2 minutes or until the entire dumpling skirt looks crispy and golden. Then turn off the heat. Flip a large plate over and place it on top of the dumplings. Place one hand on the plate (make sure to not burn yourself!), and the other hand on the handle of the pan and flip it over so that the dumpling skirt is seen as you look at the plate. Serve immediately with your dipping sauce and enjoy!
Notes
- If you don't have time to make the dough from scratch, feel free to use store-bought circular dumpling wrappers!
- You can double or triple this recipe and then freeze the dumplings before cooking them. Any ones you want to freeze, assemble them on a tray, place them in the freezer for an hour, then remove them and place them in an airtight bag, and back into the freezer for up to 3 months.
- If you don't have a lid for your frying pan, place a large chopping board on top of it to keep the steam in the pan.
Dominique
Okay, wtf, YUM! And so easy! (although mine don’t look quite as pretty)
I used two table spoons of hoisin and around 1-2 table spoons of Japanese teriyaki sauce for double the mixture.
Cooked them in a bit of soy sauce and sprinkles some chilli flakes too.
I’ve freezed the rest and will have them during the week when I’m peckish ☺️
Emily Roz
Awh thanks for your comment Dominique! SO glad you liked them!! 🙂